Students create cars that use clean energy

On the last day of STEM Camp, the plan was to use solar power to activate the Hydrocars the class had just finished making. But there was a slight glitch in the system.

“We’re supposed to be using solar power, but it’s not working today,” said 10th-grader Victoria Young. “We’re using batteries instead.”

The two-week Nevada Virtual Academy STEM Camp took place at the Lilly Fong Geoscience Building at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. It wrapped up July 11 with testing the cars, followed by a speaker from Nellis Air Force Base, Lt. Col. Andrea Maugeri, who explained to the students how the Air Force uses GPS.

The students all do their schooling from home, and it was the first time many of them had met each other.

“That’s the only problem with my school,” Young said. “You don’t get to meet your classmates very often.”

The STEM Camp was filled with students who said that the education they were receiving outweighed that problem. They attend the virtual academy for a wide range of reasons. In Young’s case, the flexibility allows her to pursue her passion, classical piano. She travels out of town for a piano lesson every two weeks and plays the instrument wherever and whenever she can.

“I’m an aspiring pianist,” she said. “I travel a lot. I couldn’t do that in a more traditional classroom setting.”

Her classmate, Jess Simone, has been attending online school since December 2008 and enjoys working at his own brisk pace and the high quality of the education. He said the elementary school he was attending before the virtual academy offered a subpar education.

“I considered getting to go to the academy a Christmas present,” Simone said.

Simone explained how the Hydrocars worked.

“The battery ignites a reaction in this membrane here,” he said, pointing at the working model vehicle. “When that happens, the water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen, which is put into these two containers and then you’ve got a little bit of fuel for the car.”

Traci Trevino, local development manager for K12 Inc., the parent company of Nevada Virtual Academy, said the school still has to meet Nevada standards, and students must take state-issued tests and meet attendance guidelines.

“We still have proms and live graduation ceremonies, but the classes are all done from home, with the exception of special camps like this,” she said. “We were joking earlier with the teachers, pointing out that they work from home all year and now it’s summer and they’re in the classroom.”

Several online schools are considered part of public education in Clark County and are free to the families and students. For more information about Nevada Virtual Academy, visit k12.com.

Contact East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 702-380-4532.